The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-27
THE TARIFF AND THE FARMER.
SL2,ooo,ooo Tax Collected by the Gov
ernno emf on Wooden Dress Goods.

tariff taxation on the farmers ana othel
consumers of neceSsaries Of living:
When this is before the readers of YOU
influential journal the centennial of tht
PRONUNCIATION of the constitution of the
limited States will have as it deserves, !
fitting Jubilee in Philadelphia Well ma
the 60.00O 900 American citizens rejoice that
for a whole century this greatest achieve
ment of the giant statesmen, philosophers
and philanthropists of the eighteenth CEN
tury has been the foundation OF America 5
present greatness and prosperity. Wen may
all evil-doers, Anarchists, and others of
similar kind take warning that if they cam
not live and be happy under such consti-
tuition they only have three alternatives:
First, not to dwell in this free land
second, to die speedily a voluntary death ;
third to revolt against it and take the con-
sequences. l feel sure that | only express
the sentiment of at least ninety nine out of
every hundred of my fellow-citizens. And
If we have a grievance, or many grievances,
against laws that have been made in favor
of particular classes or interests, this very
constitution gives us the full liberty of
speech and press which, if the cause We
agitate is Just, viii surely find public
opinion in its favor and assure Justice and
redress. The strongest and greatest OF all
weapons is reasoning with our fellow
creatures Well then having that admira-
United States which every good and true
American citizen ought to have, beg leave
to quote from Article L. section of the
constitution the following:
The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex-
cises 10 pay the debts and provide for the
common defense and general welfare of the
United States; but all duties, impoSts and
excuses shall be uniform throughout the
United States"
This being part of the noblest Magma
Charta" the world has ever produced, am
about to show how grievously and wickedly
this noble admonitiOn has been perverted.
1t is well known to every intelligent citizen
of this country that during the last seven
years at least the government, after paying
interest on the debt and bonds that fell due,
and after providing for the expenses of the
government, has had an annual surplus of
revenue amounting IN average to 500 CO.,,
900. It is further known to everybody that
this locking up of the surplus in the Treas
ury has become a standing danger to the
financial and industrial interests of the peo-
pie. And lastly, there Is not now plat
form made at convention, be il Republi-
can or Democratic. that does not denounce
this surplus and demand a reduction of
taxes. OF course, my fellOw-citizens nave
long since learned not TO put faith in plat
form. A platform Is a sort of bridge. Now
IN Venice there is the famous Bridge of
Signs The American convention platform,
whether Republican or Democratic, is "a
bridge of lies But let me come to the
point We are now nearing winter There
is hardly State in the Union where the
people do not use largely the well-known
article of wooden dress goods This goods
is a mixture of wooden or worSted and cot
ton, and costs in Europe from l5c. to 81 "a
per square yard. To give an idea of the
proportion of the cheaper to the dearer
goods we import | will here state from Off
cial returns of 1856. During that year we
imported:
Per square
yard.
1855 ,469 square yards dress goods
as,s,S,595 square yards dress goods ''
costing ..-... ..--....-... 2l13 cents
7,s5l,11i square yards dress goods
costing. -. Recommendations. "a cents
goods costing ....-......-.. .....- 81 u
Essentially, it will be seen that more than
IS, co., 900 square yards of this dress goods,
costing abroad from 10 to 34c., were Ges-
tined for the hard working classes, and
chiefly for the farmers families. During
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1887, we i'm
ported over $4,000, 900 square yards OF this
wooden mixed dress goods, costing al road
Sl1,2ll ,OO0, or little over pc. a square
yard in average. In 1886 the Treasury col
lected duty amounting to $40, IA, l13 on
wooden dress goods, and the average duty
was II. rs per cent. During the fiscal year
of 1857 the duty will amount to over SIP
O0O,000 and there is not the slightest reason
TO doubt that some $4,000 900 more is paid
III home tax TO the home manufacturers
And, altogether. the bulk OF handwriting
people in the cities and all the farmers have
to pay annually tax of at least $27, 900, 900.
perhaps $50, 900, 0C0. for using mixed wooden
dress goods that cost in average DC a
square yard abroad.
Now, wish my fellow-citizens in general,
but the farmers III particular. to see
whether this enormous swindling duty on
cheap dress goods for the people can be
reconciled with Article T., section
., of the constitution, which
quoted above. 1t has been held
by the casuitss and special pleaders for
the tariff oligarchy that the words land
general welfare" cover the power to lay
taxes, even if we have as is the case now, a
surplus of revenue. for the benefit of pro-
lection. But surely, even if we admit of
such a monstrous Interpretation, we at once
run against a snag, as in this case. The
welfare in tax on WOODEN dress goods is by
no means general" but decidedly par
tial." lnasmuch as only lS,S03 men, women
and children were employed in the
production Of all kinds of this
worsted goods in 1880, or say there
are now $1,000 hands employed, there
fors if it is "a welfare to 1908 souls it is,
3s ! concusively show, an injury TO over
GO.0O0,OOO people. Now, let me show to the
farmers the peculiar hardship of this tax on
necessary, may say almost indispensable.
article of women's dress Wheat to-day in
New York is lower than il has been for
thirty years. In Chicago the price is 69c.
a bushel. What the farmer gets in Iowa or
Minnesota for it | don't know. But the
reason wheat is so low is simply that the
pauper-abor wheat of India Russia and
Turkey comDetes with our wheat in Lon
don. And the price of wheat we consume
at home is made in London, where our sur
plus grain has to find market. The farmer,
therefore, is not and cannot be benefited by
the existing tariff. Suppose now,
a farmer in Iowa or Minnesota
needs, for his family, say four dresses
OF this worsted mixed goods that costs
abroad &c. square yard. He would be
taxed II per cent, or over 1511c. a yard.
In other words, the original cost abroad of
the goods is for 40 yards IS so, and the tax
is 81 It, Besides this the importer must
make profit, or say interest, on the So IL
duty, and SO must the retailer who sells il ia
the farmer. In short, there is no doubt that
for 40 square yards of this class of goods
costing IN England SO 80, the Minnesota
farmer has to pay 50c. a yard, or $40. Such
my fellow-tariH serfs is the penalty we
have to pay because we allow war taxes IL
lie levied in time of peace. Such is our